Defending his reform proposals in a Sunday interview, the newly minted VP candidate noted the concerns seniors may have about change to the government program by saying his own mother is on Medicare and lives in the battleground state of Florida.FULL POST

Greer, South Carolina (CNN) – Before Mitt Romney made news by revealing more details about his income taxes, his campaign had hoped to spend the day talking about Medicare.

The presumptive GOP nominee even played professor at a news conference Thursday, jotting down sums on a dry erase board as he continued to press President Obama over changes to the popular government health care program for seniors.FULL POST

(CNN) - CNN Thursday turned the important battleground state of Wisconsin from "lean Obama" to true "toss up" on its electoral map, in the wake of Mitt Romney's naming of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, a seven term congressman from the Badger state, as his running mate.

One contributing factor behind CNN's move was a new poll that matched two others from last week that indicate that the presidential contest in Wisconsin is close. While Ryan's announcement did not dramatically alter the presidential poll numbers in Wisconsin, it did change the way both campaigns viewed the state of the race in the state.FULL POST

That's where President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama went for their first date in 1989, as he described in a 2007 interview with O Magazine: ""On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like chocolate."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – When Elvis Presley wrote Richard Nixon a few days before December 21, 1970, he had an explicit goal in mind.

"Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out," wrote Presley. "I can and will do more good if I were made a Federal Agent at Large and I will help out by doing it my way though my communications with people of all ages."FULL POST

(CNN) - Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will reunite on Monday - just over a week after Romney introduced Ryan as his No. 2 - in New Hampshire, a campaign aide said Thursday, the state where Romney's announcement was originally set to take place.

Romney and Ryan campaigned together on Saturday and Sunday, then parted ways Sunday night with a handshake after a rally in Wisconsin, Ryan's home state. Their Monday event will be a town hall meeting at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, an official at the venue said.FULL POST

Greer, South Carolina (CNN) – Mitt Romney has paid no less than 13% in personal income taxes over the past ten years, he said Thursday.

The presumptive GOP nominee has faced withering criticism from Democrats over the release of his tax returns, including a charge by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that Romney had paid no taxes for a ten year period. Reid did not specify if those were the last ten years, or an earlier period.FULL POST

North Canton, Ohio (CNN) – Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said China was treating President Barack Obama "like a doormat" because he's not going after them for unfair trade policies.

"They steal our intellectual property right. They block access to their markets. They manipulate their currency," Ryan said Thursday. "President Obama promised he would stop these promises. He said he'd go to the mat with China. Instead they're treating him like a doormat."FULL POST